Health Consequences of European Contact in the Great Plains: A Comparison of Systemic Stress Levels in Pre‐ and Post‐Contact Arikara Populations

The biocultural effects of European contact varied considerably throughout the Americas. Some populations were decimated by colonialism, while others benefited from trade relationships and access to new technologies. It has been suggested that initial contact with European fur traders and explorers was economically favourable for Plains village populations, thereby facilitating a period of cultural florescence. In this study, we evaluate the hypothesis that Plains groups were better off than their predecessors during the initial contact period by comparing frequencies of enamel hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis in pre‐ and post‐contact Arikara skeletal assemblages. We included both juveniles and adults in our sample to capture variation in the stress experience of different segments of the population. Our analysis revealed similarly low frequencies of cribra orbitalia in the pre‐ and post‐contact groups and no observed cases of porotic hyperostosis. Enamel hypoplasia, however, was significantly more prevalent among post‐contact Arikara villagers when compared to their pre‐contact counterparts, which suggests that stress levels were higher after European contact. Additionally, enamel hypoplasia was most common among post‐contact juveniles. The elevated frequency of enamel hypoplasia in the post‐contact sample combined with the low frequencies of cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis suggests that disease stress, rather than nutritional deficiencies, was likely responsible for the decline in overall health following European contact. These results also suggest that juveniles are sensitive indicators of systemic stress within a population and should be included in bioarchaeological analyses of prehistoric health when available. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biocultural Consequences of Spanish Contact in the Lambayeque Valley Region of Northern Peru: Internal Enamel Micro‐Defects as Indicators of Early Life Stress

The present study utilises dental histological methods to analyse enamel micro‐defects as indicators of early life stress in indigenous Muchik individuals interred at two sites: La Capilla Santa María Magdalena de Eten (CSMME) (n = 15) and La Capilla del Niño Serranito (CNS) (n = 15), both located in the Lambayeque Valley region of northern Peru. Individuals interred at CNS date to the Early Colonial Period (AD 1533–1610), and individuals interred at CSMME date to the Middle/Late Colonial Period (AD 1625–1760), thus permitting comparison of childhood stress events between the Early and Middle/Late Colonial Periods. Results reveal a high prevalence of Wilson bands at both sites, although a lower prevalence at the CSMME was observed in comparison with the CNS. This indicates that, over time, Muchik individuals in this town may have been able to acclimate to life under Spanish oppression. Stress chronologies suggest that early life stress possibly resulted from inadequate and less than desirable food and/or water available for supplemental feeding during early infancy, especially around the ages of 4 and 5 months. Furthermore, results show that individuals with enamel defects in the form of Wilson bands at both the CNS and CSMME had an earlier mean age‐at‐death (9.6 and 4.05 years, respectively) in comparison with those without observed Wilson bands (19.75 and 8.8 years, respectively). These results underscore the importance of not only regional and temporal studies of the biological consequences of Spanish contact in the Americas but also of investigating the relationship between early life stress and adult health and longevity in archaeological populations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seventeenth-Century Glass Trade Beads from La Salle's Fort St. Louis and the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia

Abstract

Glass trade beads are described here from two seventeenth-century sites located in the upper Illinois Valley, La Salle's 1682–1691 Fort St. Louis and the nearby Grand Village of the Kaskaskia, destroyed during an Iroquois raid in 1680. Simple monochrome drawn beads characterize both bead assemblages and each contains significant percentages of very small (<2 mm) and small (2–4 mm) size beads. Dominant colors are blue, white, and black. Turquoise-blue beads were a staple of the French trade at this time in the Illinois Country, particularly in transactions involving La Salle and his successors based at Fort St. Louis. Comparative treatment provided as part of this research indicates that there are significant similarities between the bead assemblage from Fort St. Louis and the beads recovered from the 1686 wreck of La Salle's ship Belle in Matagorda Bay off the Texas coast.     

Dynamics of Industrial Districts and Business Groups: The Case of the Marche Region

Italian industrial districts are undergoing fundamental changes due to globalization. Taking a firm perspective, we argue that the analysis of firm strategies, in particular the rise of business groups, is key to understand the organizational adjustments industrial districts have recently gone through. Due to the typical family structure of industrial district firms in the Marche region, as in other fragmented Italian districts, the organizational form adopted by firms to manage growth is that of the business group. We evaluate the empirical relevance of business groups in the Marche region, and we describe different transition strategies that turned firms into business groups.     

Seventeenth-Century Vehicle of the Middle Passage: Archaeological and Historical Investigations on the Henrietta Marie Shipwreck Site

This study describes the archaeological investigations that have taken place at the wreck site of the English slave ship Henrietta Marie (1700) since its location in 1972. Information is provided on the methodology utilized during on-site archaeological data recovery, and the artifacts retrieved from the wreck site are described in detail. An account of complimentary documentary research on this wrecked slaver is also presented. Contemporary historical data gleaned from shipping lists, slaver’s logs, seamen’s wills and other sources are utilized to place Henrietta Marie within her proper context as a vehicle involved in the notorious transatlantic slave trade.     

从吴地到越地:吴越文化共轭中的湖州

历史上湖州的政区归属在吴、越之间逡巡不定,学术界对这一现象的思考虽颇不少,但尚未能给出一个圆满的解释。文章在厘清湖州政区沿革的基础上,利用感觉文化区的技术理念,即借助于各个历史时期观察者的感受,辨明自先秦以至明清,湖州地域文化的归属存在一个明显的离吴入越过程,这与湖州政区的变迁历程近乎一致。进而揭示出湖州行政归属变化的背后,有着深厚的地域文化因素作为支撑。本文期冀通过对这一课题的研究,以深入考察文化区与政区之间的内在联系,并希望就探明江浙两省之间的地域分异有所裨益。     

Interest Groups and (Re-)establishing Stability in Policy Making: The Case of the NSW Farmers' Association and the Native Vegetation Conservation Act

This article examines the response of the New South Wales Farmers' Association (NSWFA) to the Native Vegetation Conservation Act in NSW. Given the State government's decision initially to impose, without prior consultation with the Association, a regulation limiting farmers' activities on private land, the Association's response occurred in the context of efforts by policy makers to reconstitute a pattern of stable policy making. The case is particularly interesting because the efforts at re-establishing stability included a mix of a peak interest-group forum and regional policy-making committees. The difficulty that the Association had in influencing the emerging native-vegetation-management policy agenda reflects its inability to secure member compliance, which was necessary to enable it to operate effectively in these new arenas. The article offers a range of explanations to explain the absence of member compliance and explores the broader implications for interest-group analysis.     

Comment on the Analysis of Two Skeletons from Terqa,Syria

Recently, a report on two human skeletons from an Early Bronze Age tomb excavated at Tell Ashara, Syria has been published in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. One individual was identified as a warrior following these criteria: (i) size and robustness of bones, (ii) cut marks on the humerus, (iii) reduction of the ulnar styloid process, both interpreted as healed weapon‐related trauma, (iv) well‐developed muscle insertions, and (v) degenerative joint disease. Actually, none of these five criteria support the conclusion because of the following reasons: (i) not necessarily all tall and robust men become warriors, (ii) the post mortem origin of cut marks on the humerus is more likely than sharp force trauma, (iii) there are several possible causes of the unusual ulnar styloid shape other than weapon‐related trauma, (iv) the interpretation of musculoskeletal stress markers and (v) degenerative joint disease lacked control for age, sex and body size. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterization of bricks and tiles from the 17th-century brick Chapel,St. Mary's City,Maryland

The brick Chapel at St. Mary's City, Maryland, built around 1667, would have been an impressive structure on a colonial frontier where all the other buildings were built only of wood. While the building is no longer extant, the bricks remaining in the buried foundations hold information about the technologies and materials used by brickmakers in the 17th-century Chesapeake region. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and petrographic analysis of thin sections were used to compare the Chapel bricks and other 17th-century bricks and tiles from several Chesapeake contexts to locally available clay sources. While the composition of the Chapel bricks is generally consistent with that of clays available in southern Maryland, these historic materials could not be linked to any one deposit, and may reflect the mixing of clays from multiple sources. In contrast, building materials from other 17th-century buildings at St. Mary's City could be more precisely “matched” to specific local clay deposits. This paper reports on our initial investigations toward understanding the technology of the Chapel bricks and their relationship to other bricks from St. Mary's City.     

西周至南北自制玻璃概述

我国玻璃起步较晚,大体始于西周初或先周(殷末),主要是蓝色、浅蓝色或绿色玻璃珠管,与玉、玛瑙配合制成“杂佩”。其时玻璃的主要成分为二氧化硅,并含有少量铅、钡,故称为铅钡玻璃,与西方钠钙玻璃不同而独树一帜。春秋战国时期,西方蜻蜓眼玻璃珠输入我国,从此,以仿羊脂白玉美若明月的“隋侯珠”为代表的自制玻璃与外来玻璃并存。西方(大月氏)吹制玻璃术于汉魏传入我国之后,也出现了自制的空心玻璃器皿。     

1900-1949年间上海水乡景观蜕变的复原与分析

近代以来上海城市物理空间的构建,大幅度地改变了该区传统的水乡景观;尤其是城市道路网络的扩张,造成原有河浜体系的快速退化并进而产生了一系列的自然环境与社会问题。这种城市化进程中自然环境的嬗变,在1900年后逐步达到白热化,但至今未有成果对这一显著过程进行科学的复原与解析。本文运用GIS手段与历史文献考证相结合的方法,力图微观地复原1900-1949年间上海水乡景观蜕变的具体过程,并对其内在驱动机制及社会回应作出综合分析。     

山东地区几个周代墓葬随葬动物分析

近些年来,山东地区周代考古成果显著,笔者拣取其中几个重要墓地,对出土的随葬动物尝试进行一下简单分析。这几个墓地包括有长清仙人台[1],滕州前掌大[2],东江小邾国[3]和新泰周家庄[4]。     

青海少数民族传统体育文化及发展路径

本文对青海少数民族传统体育文化的内涵与形成、功能与特性以及青海少数民族传统体育文化发展的社会背景进行了梳理和分析,并提出了将青海少数民族传统体育文化作为非物质文化遗产进行保护;将少数民族传统体育项目引入区域各族人民群众全民健身活动之中;通过举办民族运动会发展少数民族传统体育文化等发展路径。     

三晋古玺考释两则

<玺汇>0303著录一方古玺(图一): 该玺"县"作"?",为典型的战国晋系文字.其中,"?"字<玺汇>阙释.李家浩虽然释为"妾",但在后面加了一个问号,看来李先生对这样的释读是不敢确定的.其实,"妾"字见于古文字资料,作?(<侯马>198;10)、?(<玺汇>5491)等形,<说文>:"妾……从辛,从女."对照其它材料,我们不难发现,玺印"?"字上部明显不从辛,释为"妾"的确是有问题的.     

河南境内出土早期玉器初步研究

综合利用PIXE、XRD和Raman三种无损分析方法,准确判明了河南出土新石器时代至东周90余件玉器的质地,这些玉器的玉材种类非常丰富,并具有时代和地域特色。新石器时代至夏代,河南透闪石型玉器很少而绿松石占绝大多数,商代开始透闪石激增并占据主体地位。根据绿松石的类质同像、伴生矿物或围岩成分及透闪石所舍微量元素,探讨了玉...